About Us

University Communications focuses on building the brand, enhancing the reputation and growing public understanding of the University of Chicago, where rigorous inquiry shapes fields, creates a transformative education and experience, and confronts the most important problems of our time. The communications team in collaboration with UChicago Creative, the University’s in-house creative agency, specializes in content creation, media relations, public affairs, brand strategy, and video and audio production for the University, while serving as a communication partner and center of excellence across UChicago.

Engaging Content

Whether sharing field-defining research or highlighting UChicago’s impact on the world, University Communications tells the story of UChicago and strengthens the University’s brand by creating engaging, informative and timely content that ranges from podcasts to the latest university news in close collaboration with campus communication leaders.

Public Engagement

From media requests to speak with leading experts on UChicago’s faculty to inquiries about University programs, the media relations and public affairs team works with University leadership, faculty and communications partners across UChicago to help broaden public understanding of the University and drive media engagement around key projects, initiatives and appointments.

Social Outreach

Social media provides a growing opportunity to connect with an array of important audiences. University Communications leads planning, strategy and outreach for a range of University social channels, while working in close collaboration with schools, divisions and other partners across UChicago on their social media strategies.

Distinct Identity

There is no place like UChicago, and University Communication works to ensure that’s reflected through the unique visual identity of UChicago, building and growing the University’s brand. These efforts are led by UChicago Creative, which maintains the University’s identity guidelines, facilities licensing requests and serves as a key partner across the University.

Leadership

Paul M. Rand, Vice President of Communications

Paul M. Rand joined the University of Chicago as Vice President for Communications in August 2017. Rand leads the development of strategic and digital communications in support of academic programs, University initiatives and institutional priorities. He collaborates with units across the University to support the momentum of the University’s research and teaching initiatives around the world, support and strengthen engagement with the University of Chicago community, and build upon the institution’s reputation as an intellectual destination. Rand has direct oversight of the Office of Communications.

Before joining the University, Rand was Chairman at Critical Mass/ Zocalo (a division of Omnicom Group). He founded and led two successful agencies: Corporate Technology Communications, one of the nation’s largest independent public relations firms, and Zócalo Group, a full-service digital and social media agency. Based in Chicago, Zócalo Group has received numerous industry awards for its work in digital communications, public relations, social media, and reputation building. Rand’s previous roles include serving as chief digital officer and chief growth and innovation officer at Ketchum, a global public relations firm, and as an executive vice president at Golin. He started his career at Burson-Marsteller in Chicago.

Rand holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a master’s degree in business administration and public policy from DePaul University. He is the author of Highly Recommended: Harnessing the Power of Social Media and Word of Mouth Marketing to Build Your Brand and Your Business (McGraw Hill, 2013/14).

Jeremy Manier, Assistant Vice President of Communications

Jeremy oversees a staff that covers news in the humanities, law, social sciences, physical sciences, campus life, and many academic specialties around the University of Chicago. He is responsible for the University’s online news presence, including websites and social media accounts, and the University community’s daily interactions with the news media. Before coming to UChicago in 2008, he worked for 12 years as a science and medical reporter at the Chicago Tribune.

Ben Rissman, Assistant Vice President, Digital Communications

Ben Rissman joined the University of Chicago as Assistant Vice President for Digital Communications in October 2017. In this role, Ben oversees the development, adoption, and implementation of strategies to ensure that the University, its schools, divisions and units effectively leveraging the power of digital and social media as communications platforms.

Prior to joining the University, Ben launched tech start-ups and then worked at leading global marketing agencies where he provided strategic counsel to a wide range of clients spanning the education, consumer goods, financial services, health care, and retail sectors. As an Executive Vice President at Ogilvy, Ben led a group focused on developing social media strategy and content production. During his time as Senior Vice President, Digital Communications at Weber Shandwick he managed a large team of cross functional digital specialists and often built digital marketing strategy for many of America’s leading brands. In both of these roles he was tasked with keeping his agencies at the forefront of modern marketing by developing new models, capabilities, and thought leadership in many emerging areas like social media, influencer marketing, mobile, and content marketing.

Ben earned a master’s degree in marketing and strategy at the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business (Booth) and a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science at the University of Michigan.

Candace D. Mueller joined the University of Chicago as Executive Director of Communications Strategy and Chief of Staff in August 2017. In this role, Mueller ensures the Office of Communications is strategically and organizationally equipped to produce outstanding communications in support of the University’s mission, vision and distinctive strengths. As Chief of Staff, Mueller convenes key stakeholders and campus communicators to establish best practices, content strategies and effective vehicles for the engagement of key audiences.

Most recently Mueller served as Vice President of Global Communications for Hyatt Hotels Corp. overseeing corporate and brand communications, including social media. Before joining Hyatt, Mueller spent nearly 10 years at PepsiCo in various roles, including Senior Director of North America Nutrition and Community Relations. She was selected for this first-ever role dedicated to driving the communications strategy and building reputation for PepsiCo’s portfolio of nutrition brands which included Gatorade, Naked Emerging Brands, Quaker Oats and Tropicana. In addition, Mueller served as Senior Director and Chief of Staff for Quaker Oats leading all internal and external public relations initiatives.

Mueller’s previous experience also includes senior roles at Weber Shandwick and Cramer- Krasselt. Mueller holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of South Florida. In her spare time, she enjoys giving back to the community and serves on two nonprofit Boards.

Marielle Sainvilus, Director of Public Affairs

Marielle manages emerging institutional news and issues, high-profile crisis situations, broad issues affecting higher education, media and public relations, and sensitive topics. She works with members of the news media and serves as a University spokesperson. Marielle also works closely with senior leadership and in close collaboration with departments and units across campus to develop and execute communications strategies for both internal and external University audiences. Prior to joining UChicago, Marielle served as the press secretary for the Chicago Public Schools, communications director at the Illinois Department of Human Services, and assistant press secretary in the Office of the Governor of Illinois. She also led public engagement strategies and provided strategic communications counsel to local and national clients as a communications consultant at Grisko, LLC.

Marielle earned a master’s degree from Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Andrea Lewis, Director of College Communications and Associate Dean of the College

Andrea A. Lewis is Director of College Communications and Associate Dean of the College at The University of Chicago, responsible for leading communications and reputation management for the College. Joining the University in September 2017, she collaborates with units across the institution in support of academic programs, University initiatives and strategic priorities.

An expert in all facets of communication, Lewis has guided Fortune 500 companies and top nonprofits through their largest public crises, acquisitions, rebranding and culture change initiatives. Prior to the University, she was head of communications for the national office of the Y, the 5th largest nonprofit in the U.S., where she led crisis and internal communications, employee engagement and client service. She also was first vice president and director of external relations in North America for LaSalle Bank Corporation and Dutch parent ABN AMRO Bank, overseeing all public communication in support of the banks’ global and domestic brand reputation, 18 business unit offerings and philanthropic investments. Before her in-house roles, Lewis spent a decade in the agency world, serving as a vice president in the brand marketing practices of Ketchum, a global public relations firm, and Cramer-Krasselt, an integrated marketing communications agency. She began her career at Golin, a global public relations firm.

Lewis holds her bachelor’s degree in rhetoric and communication from Kent State University. She is the author of Love Yourself(ie), Life Lessons for Building Kid Charisma, a fictional short story endorsed by adolescent development experts for building resilience in preteens growing up in the digital age.

Mark Peters, Director of News and Content

Mark Peters is director of news and content, working with colleagues across campus to tell the story of UChicago. He oversees the creation of an array of content from news announcements and feature stories to podcasts and videos, while developing and executing key projects and initiatives for University Communication.

Mark joined the University in 2016 from The Wall Street Journal where he was a national reporter based in Chicago. A graduate of Boston College, Mark also worked as a staff writer for The Hartford Courant and Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram.

Anita Smith, Associate Director, Finance

Anita joined UChicago Creative in 2012. After nearly six years with the University of Chicago, she has gained ample institutional knowledge. Prior to coming to UChicago, she was a program administrator and business diversity manager for a general contracting firm, to which she credits much of her financial background. Holding a degree in communication disorders, Anita maintains a passion for helping people and remains active in her community by volunteering at a local homeless shelter and neighboring foster home. Time away from work is well spent with her husband and children.

Karen Grotto, Executive Director of UChicago Creative

Karen Grotto joined the University of Chicago as the Executive Director of UChicago Creative in January 2018. Grotto is responsible for leading the team to deliver strategic, high-quality, carefully targeted and efficiently produced communications.

Grotto believes in the power of big ideas and the strong collaboration needed to bring them to life. She’s an award-winning, hands-on creative leader. From B-to-C to B-to-B, her experience is as diverse as the brands she’s contributed to including WXRT radio, Chicago Title Insurance Company, Cook’s Ham, CNH Global, Elmhurst History Museum, Glade, Scrubbing Bubbles, Pledge, BP and CDW.

Most recently Grotto served as an Executive Creative Director at Ogilvy & Mather. She helped build the RedWorks creative team with a focus on high-volume, high-quality creative delivered with operational efficiencies. She has also held creative roles at Edelman, Cramer-Krasselt and Petrick Design.

Grotto attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and earned a BFA in Graphic Design. She’s the oldest of 10 siblings and enjoys athletic endeavors, including a dedicated yoga practice.

Our Team

Office of Communications

Brian Battle, Assistant Director, Social Media Engagement

As the Assistant Director of Social Media Engagement in the Office of Communications, Brian Battle oversees the strategy of the university social media channels, as well as providing support for teams across other University of Chicago departments, entities, and partners. Prior to joining the communications team, Brian worked in the marketing industry as a social media strategist, and previously as an advertising executive with a background in digital, broadcast, print and direct marketing disciplines.

Kevin Castro, Social Media Specialist

Kevin Castro is a social media specialist, helping to manage UChicago’s main social media channels and support social media initiatives across the University. Kevin graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Business in December 2016. While an undergraduate, he worked in the University’s Communications office assisting in managing the UW-Madison social media channels. Kevin joined UChicago in 2018 after spending a year managing digital communications for a financial services firm in Madison, WI.

Michael Drapa, Associate Director of News and Content

Michael Drapa is associate director of news and content, leading the day-to-day operations of the News Office and managing a team of content producers who tell the University’s unique story across its digital channels. Working with partners across campus, he collaborates on the development of stories and multimedia for the UChicago News site and the University homepage. Mike joined UChicago in 2008 following a career in sports journalism and newspapers. At UChicago, he has developed a number of multimedia packages that examine the University’s rich history—notably a story about a World War II-era UChicago project to build the world’s first nuclear reactor and a CASE award-winning profile of renowned civil rights icon and UChicago alumnus Timuel Black.

Danika Kmetz, Manager of College Communications

Andrew Bauld, News Officer for Arts and Humanities

Andrew Bauld is news officer for the arts, humanities, and social sciences, and leads the University podcast initiative as producer for Big Brains and Knowledge Applied. A former elementary teacher, he has written and produced audio stories that have been featured by WBUR, Interlochen Public Radio, and Harvard Ed. Magazine. Originally from New Hampshire, Andrew received his bachelor’s degree from Tufts University and a master’s of education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Teresa Cosey, Office Assistant

Teresa joined the News Office in 1995, serving as office assistant. She is responsible for support needs for the news director, the News Office. and the Office of the Vice President for Communications.

Ryan Goodwin, Assistant Editor

Ryan manages daily content on the University main page and news site, including citations, calendars and multimedia material. He also writes and edits stories, coordinates events and interviews, and curates daily news briefings.

Louise Lerner, News Officer for Physical Sciences

Louise Lerner is the University’s news officer for sciences, focused on research in physics, chemistry, astronomy, molecular engineering, geology, math, statistics and more at the University and its affiliated laboratories. Previously she worked at Argonne National Laboratory as the editor of the lab’s science magazine. She is a 2009 graduate of the College.

UChicago Creative

Lilia Diaz, Designer

Lilia joined the UChicago Creative team in 2015. Prior to bringing her creativity to the University of Chicago, she honed her design skills as a student designer for University Communications at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. There she received a BA in Art, with an emphasis on graphic design and sculpture. After her time at Union, Lilia worked as a graphic designer for the advertising agency Raines Design, where she focused her work on branding and print design.

Kristin Gecan, Assistant Director of Editorial

Kristin joined UChicago Creative in March 2014, after spending four years at the Poetry Foundation handling everything communications, marketing, and public relations. Fluent in French and a lover of language, particularly the written word, when Kristin is not at work writing, she’s at home writing, or doing one of her other favorite things—reading, traveling, enjoying good food with friends and family, or catching up on television shows with her husband.

Rick Glatz, Director of Creative Operations

Rick Glatz joined UChicago Creative as Director of Creative Operations in October 2017.

In this role, Rick manages the success of projects, client work portfolios, and the overall organization—developing and managing scopes, schedules, and budgets. Rick oversees, develops, and maintains tools and processes that allow our creative teams to do their best work while delivering the highest level of service to our clients.

Prior to joining the University, Rick spent over 25 years working in advertising agencies throughout Chicago. He managed all aspects of department print production and studio services while developing best practice policies to maximize efficiencies and improve workflow for large-scale brand campaigns.

Outside of work, Rick enjoys spending time with his family, playing music, and drawing.

Luis Ibarra, Senior Designer

Luis joined UChicago Creative in 2012 after five years as the senior graphic designer at Chicago’s renowned Steppenwolf Theatre. He brings extensive experience in print design, marketing strategy, art direction, and branding. Luis attended the school of design at the University of Illinois at Chicago, as well as HGK, the school of design in Luzern, Switzerland, where he focused his studies in poster design and typography. Life outside of work is spent with his wife and two sons, playing soccer, grilling, and watching dinosaur documentaries.

Jean Lachat, Photographer

Zach Love, Senior Producer

Zach joined the University of Chicago in 2009 as a videographer and became a producer in 2010. He began living behind a camera in eighth grade, when he discovered that doing a video for homework was a lot more fun than writing a paper, even if it was five times the amount of work. Zach brings his experience to UChicago Creative as a broadcast photojournalist, editor, live truck operator, and field producer. When Zach steps away from the camera, he enjoys hand developing black and white photos.

Keith Reid-Cleveland, Writer

Eric Fey, Senior Technology Producer

Since joining University Communications in 2010 Eric has managed all aspects of the University Communications infrastructure and technical operations. Eric manages the Communication department’s TV studio, radio studio, webcasting services, video server, media asset management system, and technical infrastructure. Prior to joining the University, Eric worked with many of Chicago’s top advertising agencies and postproduction studios.

Nicole Gibby Munguia, Digital Asset Specialist

Nicole Gibby Munguia grew up in southwest Michigan on the shore of Lake Michigan. Seeking adventure and the chance to relocate to an exotic locale, she moved directly across the lake to Chicago. Nicole serves as your first point of contact when you submit a photo or videography project, works with you to determine how our team can best meet your creative project requirements, and ushers projects through every phase of development. Prior to joining UChicago Creative, Nicole worked at the University of Michigan and in the nonprofit sector. In her role as production coordinator, she finally has a justification for creating copious lists, double-checking event details, and adding yet another item to her never-ending list of “topics she’d like to research just for fun.” She holds an MLIS from Dominican University with specializations in Data and Knowledge Management and Digital Curation, and a BA from the University of Michigan. Outside the office you’ll find her with her nose buried in a book (or several) and randomly throwing pop culture references into conversation.

John Hillman, Producer

John joined UChicago Creative in 2017 as a producer. For more than 30 years, John has shared his passion for visual storytelling with such organizations as Loyola University Chicago, The Field Museum, and as a member of the Chicago 2016 Olympic Bid Committee. While running a small video production company called The Video Department, John has worked on numerous grant-funded video projects and has worked internationally in India, Nepal, Italy, Costa Rica, Mexico, Africa, and China. His programs have received accolades including two Silver Apple Awards from the National Educational Film and Video Festival, a Blue Ribbon from the American Film and Video Festival, a Gold Philo from the International Television Association, and thirteen Telly awards, which honor the best in non-broadcast film and video productions. John’s other interests include acting and singing, having appeared in numerous community theater musical productions and also serving as a music minister at St. Linus Parish in Oak Lawn, Illinois.

Brian Lease, Office Manager

Brian has more decades of experience in corporate communications than he is willing to admit to. His experience in the creative field runs the gamut from building sets and operating spotlights to coordinating conventions at McCormick Place and managing operations of one of the largest Corporate Communications firms in Chicago. He came to UChicago Creative in 2012, providing finance and operations support and entertaining colleagues with his many stories. As department and financial administrator he is your contact for campus maps, University calendars, and vendor relations.

Ellen McGrew, Senior Editor

Ellen has worked in University communications since 1982. Over that time she has had varied responsibilities in editorial, management, and print production areas, and has enjoyed working with many, many people across campus and in the community. Known for her “eagle eye,” she is currently concentrating on editorial contributions to UChicago Creative’s projects. She has an undergraduate degree in English and did graduate work at the University of Chicago in classics. Her main interest outside of the office is music.

Shawn Renee-Cadichon, Associate Director, Multimedia

Shawn joined the University in 2012, overjoyed with the opportunity to return to her passion of film/video production. Most recently, she was an account supervisor at Burrell, an agency specializing in multicultural advertising and event marketing, where she consistently developed creative, market-moving ideas and strategies. Shawn was also a creative executive at Platinum Studios, a film and TV production company. She has produced and managed production on a variety of independent film and video projects and worked on several studio features. Shawn holds a project management certification from Caltech and a BS in communications from Florida State University.

Dan Svoboda, Post Production Supervisor

Resources

University Communications provides resources, tools, and services to the University community to promote a strong identity and consistent messaging. Among our roles is to set standards and guidelines for representing the University of Chicago and communicating about it. We account for both the importance of traditional media and the influence of mobile devices, social media, and other burgeoning ways to disseminate information.